Board Highlights
from the November 27, 2018 meeting
MUSD celebrates service of outgoing Board Members
Before Tuesday's Board of Education Study Session, MUSD employees and Trustees came together to celebrate the service of outgoing Board Members Robert Jung and Amin Fazal.

During the celebration, Board President Daniel Bobay, Superintendent Cheryl Jordan, and other Board Members shared a few words about Jung and Fazal.

"Robert and I started out many years ago in PTA ... and Amin came along and fulfilled the gap in PTA and also stepped up to the school board, and we really appreciate your service here," Bobay said. "And in the short time you were here, you completed a lot of studying, you learned what it was about to be a Board Member, and we really appreciate your dedication to that service. And we are going to miss you."

Robert Jung joined the Board January 3, 2017. He was selected to fill Bob Nunez's spot after he was elected to the council in November 2016. Jung has been an active Milpitas parent for more than 15 years, having served on a number of different PTAs and service organizations.

Fazal, a longtime resident and district volunteer, began April 18, 2017, serving out the remainder of Danny Lau's term on the board after he passed away on March 20.

Fazal and Jung also shared a few words, to thank the community for their experiences.

"For the new Board Members, be open minded, make sure you are supporting the teachers and students, make sure any decisions you make you think of them," Fazal said. "...Trust me, you'll see me around."

Jung thanked everyone for all of their support.

"For me it's been a long journey," he said. "I've been involved in the District for 15-plus years as Dan has pointed out. ... This is not goodbye. This is just me stepping from behind the dais and spending more time in the community."

Superintendent Jordan said, "I couldn't have asked for two more kind, generous, caring people to step up to the plate and to become a part of our team. I think we've created a very special Board team, and I will miss both of you."

She presented to each of them special bowls that the District only gives to retirees "but because the two of you have really done such a tremendous job and you really have become ingrained in who we are as Milpitas, I think it's very fitting to give you these bowls which are gratitude for your service to education."

Bobay said, "Next Board Meeting we have a new beginning, and we really hope you'll cheer us on."


  
Join the MUSD Board of Education in congratulating our three Trustees as they are sworn into office 7 p.m. Tuesday, December 11 in Board Room 500 of the District Office, located at 1331 E. Calaveras Blvd. Chris Norwood is returning as an incumbent while Michael Tsai and Kelly Yip-Chuan will be joining as first-time candidates.
RECOGNITION
Superintendent Jordan and Trustees honored Perry Pham, PE Coach at Rose Elementary School, who was chosen as the November classified employee winner in the District's #WEareMUSDChampionsprogram.

Pham was chosen for the award after being nominated by kindergarten teacher Lisa Masoud. Masoud said Pham has demonstrated his work with the following Strategic Goal: "Focus services and support systems to ensure that all students are engaged in their learning and are making social, emotional, and academic gains."

Before he came up to take a picture with the Board, a video (left) about his work was played for attendees at the meeting.

Are you an MUSD employee who wants to nominate a colleague?  Do so now online.
REPORTS
Study Session highlights Bond
Program process overview
With the 70 percent passage of $284 million general obligation bond Measure AA in the November midterm election, consultants held a Study Session to discuss what the next steps are for moving forward with bond work. Glenn Gould, esq. Attorney, senior Counsel for Orbach, Huff Suarez and Henderson LLP, and Tony Kanastab, Bond Facilities Director at Berryessa School District, split the presentation which began by detailing the many members involved in the team, from the Building Trades to the City, Division of the State Architect, builders, engineers, District Office staff. and clients, which include students, staff, maintenance, tech services, student nutrition, and more. Making sure all these players are in place are the key to a successful bond program, Gould explained, while detailing each of the specific roles that they play.

From there, the team selected goes through a competitive process where school districts generally comply with requirements by using a request for proposal, known as an RFP, or request for qualifications, RFQ, process. Gould explained that negotiations set the tone for the entire project.

Kanastab shared his experiences working with Berryessa, emphasizing that the community wants to SEE bond dollars at work.

He added the biggest thing with projects is getting them designed. With all projects, you want to make sure you're realistic about what things are going to cost, when it will be completed, that the plans are transparent, and that there is proactive management of the program to minimize litigation. In other words, making sure "We accomplished what we said we were going to do."

Board Member Amin Fazal asked what next steps are. Joe Flatley, Director of Facilities Modernization, said the master list of projects needs to be completed, and he is working on a timeline that will be presented to the Board.

Board Vice President Chris Norwood said he is excited about the work Flatley, Wendy Zhang, Assistant Superintendent of Business Services, and Jordan has done.

Coordinator details 2017-18 English Language Proficiency Assessment for California
Norma Rodriguez, Assistant Superintendent of Learning and Development, kicked off a presentation regarding results from t he English Language Proficiency Assessments for California, the required state test to measure English Language Proficiency (ELP).

She introduced Parwinder Johal, EL Coordinator, who led the presentation about the test, which must be administered to all students whose primary language is other than English.

State and federal law requires that local school districts administer a state test of English Language Proficiency to eligible students in kindergarten through grade twelve. The ELPAC is aligned with the 2012 California English Language Development Standards and consists of two separate assessments: Initial Identification to identify students’ proficiency entry level and Annual Summative to measure students’ progress in acquiring English Proficiency. The ELPAC test replaced the California English Language Development Test (CELDT) and the presentation reviewed the 2017-18 test results.

Johal said there are currently 2,903 English Learners enrolled in the District, approximately 30 percent of Milpitas Unified's students.In 2018-19, Johal said 320 have been newly identified as English Learners. Of the ELs, 73.6 percent are in elementary school.

She said the District wants to start seeing these students as asset based, and they are committeed to providing English Learners students educational opportunities and pathways that promote high-level of English Language Development and academic achievement to ensure they are college and career ready.

There are four levels of the ELPAC, with results being 55 percent at Level 4, 24 percent at Level 3, 12 percent at Level 2, and 9 percent at Level 1. She added that it averages five to six years for students to go from being an English Learner to reclassified.
RESOLUTIONS
- Seventy-seven years ago, Japanese fighter planes attacked the United States Naval Base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, without warning and declaration of war, destroying much of our Pacific Fleet and killing more than 2,400 Americans. The following day, President Franklin D. Roosevelt called on Congress to declare War, reacting to the attack with firm determination to defeat tyranny and secure our Nation. 

In memory of all those who lost their lives and those who served, the United States Congress designated December 7 each year as National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day on August 23, 1994. On November 29, President Bill Clinton issued a proclamation declaring December 7, 1994 the first National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day.

Milpitas Unified School District would like to recognize these efforts as well, and encourages all educators to commemorate this solemn day of remembrance and to honor our military, past and present, with appropriate ceremonies, activities, and programs. Trustees adopted a resolution recognizing and honoring December 7 as National Pearl Harbor Day.
- The Metro Ed Board has requested that each JPA member consider the resolution to establish a board policy that will affirm our support of our career technical center, known as Silicon Valley Career Technical Education. In doing so we confirm the that the best approach to sustaining MetroEd/ SVCTE is to apply for funding as a consortium. The Board of Education adopted a resolution in support of our regional Metropolitan Education District-SVCTE Center.